


Welcome to Beacon

by LairdStewart98



Category: RWBY
Genre: Drabble Collection, Multi, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-15 03:42:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13604811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LairdStewart98/pseuds/LairdStewart98
Summary: Welcome to Beacon Academy, where aspiring artists find their fame! Join Ruby and her friends as they attend the years of Beacon, and read the stories that will ensue. Mostly going to be a collection of one-shots (that may or may not be connected) revolving around or inspired by a song.





	1. Red Like Roses

_ Red Like Roses - Jeff Williams _

Ozpin enjoyed lunchtime.

Every day during lunch break he would leave the school grounds and walk amongst the people of the city. He was such a busy man sometimes he felt it necessary just to remind himself that was in fact life outside his school.

"Do you actually have a place in mind," asked Glynda Goodwitch, his deputy headmistress, "Or would you just have us wander aimlessly like usual"

Ozpin chuckled "Now my dear, you know I always go with purpose"

"Then tell where we're going then. We passed no fewer than two cafes, three coffee shops and one restaurant. Do you plan on having lunch or not?"

"Of course" the bespectacled man smiled, looking his blonde companion in the eye as he spoke "I was going to stop at one of those cafes we passed, but there was something I wanted to see first"

Glynda was about to ask what, when she heard the faint ring of guitar strings.

_"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest..."_

The voice was that of a young woman, almost angelic in its sound. The deputy headmistress couldn't help but hang on to every word it sang.

Ozpin merely smiled as he saw Glynda's expression "That was what I wanted to see"

The pair followed the voice to its source. No much further down the street was a young teenager busking. The girl herself was unremarkable in appearance; baggy denim jeans and a red hoodie hiding most of her features. That being said, her voice was like a siren's; drawing in many a passer-by, their change falling into the little brown shoebox before her.

_"Black the beast descends from shadows, yellow beauty burns gold"_

The girls hand flew up and down the strings like lightning, notes ringing out a fast-paced that made Glynda's heart stir. Whoever the girl was, she was talented.

"I came across the girl while I was shopping for groceries last week" Ozpin told her "I had hoped to speak to her, but she had left before I had the chance"

The pair waited until the girl's song reached its climax, her fingers blurring as she sped up to her grand finale.

The small crowd dispersed when she finished, a couple of them giving a polite applause before going about their business. Ozpin and Glynda seized the moment to approach, Ozpin dropping a $20 bill into her box.

The girl raised her head at the sound, catching sight of the bill as it fell "Thanks mister!" she smiled.

Up close, Glynda could make out the girl's features under her hood. She was a young teenage girl, like she had guessed, with pale skin, dark hair and a pair of remarkable bright grey eyes. They seemed to shine like silver in the daylight.

"No, thank you for such a lovely performance" Ozpin smiled at the girl "I must say I did not recognize that song you played"

"Well..." the girl shyly smiled "That's because I, uh, wrote it myself"

Ozpin glanced at Glynda with a smile before continuing to speak to the girl "Tell me child, what's your name?"

"Ruby Rose sir"

Ozpin held out his hand "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Rose. My name is-"

"You're Ozpin" Ruby interrupted, shaking his hand "You're the headmaster of that Beacon music school. I, uh, saw your picture"

Ozpin nodded "Indeed. I run Beacon Academy. Every day, we take in young and talented individuals and try to meld them into the stars of tomorrow"

Glynda smiled. Ozpin had said this speech so many times she was positive she could repeat it word for word (while asleep at that).

"I know" Ruby nodded "My sister goes there. Yang Xiao Long"

Ah, Yang. Glynda knew her very well. While she found Yang's preferred instrument, drums, to be pretty irritating and loud she could not deny the woman's enthusiasm for the art. And it was that love that Ozpin found to be the most important quality in his students.

"Well then, Miss Rose" Ozpin spoke "You probably know why I'm here then"

"Are you offering me a place at Beacon?" the girl asked with the faintest trace of hopeful excitement in her voice.

"And if I was? Would you like that?"

Ruby's smile was, well, adorable (Glynda never thought she'd ever use that word to describe a person) "More than anything"

Ozpin shared a look with Glynda, a silent question: Do you approve? Naturally, she did and nodded back "Well alright then. We'll have to organize the paperwork with your father; you live with Yang so we already have most of your contact info. But regardless," he held out his hand again...

"Welcome to Beacon"


	2. Cold

_ Cold - Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams _

"It looks so small now" was Jaune's first thought.

It had been several years since he had stepped into this recording studio, back when he was still a musician. Back when Pyrrha was still alive.

Nora and Ren stood behind at the door. Jaune had asked them to join him and they had said yes. How could they refuse him? He was family.

It didn't take long before Jaune made his way to the large cloth that sat in the corner. Pulling it off with a single stroke and a cloud of dust, it revealed the piano underneath. For something that had lain untouched for ten years, it still looked as good as new.

Jaune pulled up an old stool, slightly more weathered than the piano, and with a tentative hand he began to play the keys. A faint riff that Pyrrha had taught him oh so long ago.

_"I never felt that it was wise to wish too much, to dream too big would only lead to being crushed"_

Jaune could still remember those early days at Beacon. He wasn't exceptionally talented. He couldn't play any instruments, but he could sing. To some, that meant he deserved to be mocked and bullied. They called him a "choir boy", called him gay and made his everyday life a living hell.

_"Then I met you, you weren't afraid of anything. You taught how to leave the ground, to use my wings"_

Then came Pyrrha Nikos, daughter of one of the biggest record companies in the world. A musical prodigy. Of course he didn't know that, to him she was just another student. A really cute one, but just another student. She helped him with his bullies (turns out she knew a few martial arts), his homework and taught him the basics of a couple instruments, piano being the first.

_"I never thought a hero would ever come my way"_

Despite all her local fame, Pyrrha was an incredibly humble and down-to-earth girl. She told Jaune that one of the reasons she came to fall for him was that he never treated her like a celebrity. Apparently she had lived a lonely childhood or something.

Jaune, for all his supposed talent, never picked up on her feelings. It wasn't until graduation, where she cornered him in a stairwell and made her feelings known with a kiss (and about twenty more).

They dated for years, then they married, and then it all ended.

_"But more than that, I never thought you'd be taken away"_

Cancer. That hated word. That single, filthy word that cost him his entire world. They had missed the signs. By the time they had noticed it was too late, it had become terminal. Those remaining months had been the some of the worst, watching Pyrrha, that beautiful Amazon of a woman flicker and fade like a candle until finally...nothing. She was gone.

_"Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year"_

Jaune couldn't bear it in the days after. The house, the bed, it all felt too empty without her. Too quiet, too dark.

He would have completely fallen apart if it hadn't been for the others. Nora was there when he needed to smile and Ren was there for a listening ear and sage advice. The best friends he could ever ask for. It was them who had suggested that he return to their old recording studio. To find some semblance of closure, they said.

_"But moving forward never felt as hard as today"_

His melody complete, Jaune closed the piano again. He wiped his cheek, his fingertips coming away wet with tears he didn't think he could shed anymore. He thought his eyes would have run dry after all these years.

On stiff limbs he returned to the door, his friends waiting.

"You okay?" came Nora's question. Jaune didn't really have an answer to that. Nora must have realized that, because she hugged him, Ren joining her not soon after.

The drive home was done in silence. The walk up his driveway too. He opened his door as quietly as he could.

"I'm home" he called.

"Shh!" came a voice from around the corner. It was Ruby, clad in that red hoodie like always, shoes off and a comic book in hand.

"She's asleep?" Jaune asked her.

Ruby nodded "Got her to bed about an hour ago"

"Thanks again. How much do I owe you?"

Ruby barked a little laugh "Not a cent. You know I love kids" She went back around the corner "I'll grab my shoes and get out of your hair". So she did. She hugged him and left, and Jaune was left alone once again.

No. Not alone. Not really.

_"But your star's still in the sky, so I won't say goodbye"_

Jaune crept up the stairs to her room. He found her in bed like Ruby had said. Red hair, like her mothers, strewn across the pillows. A subtle smile decorated her face. There were times when Jaune wondered what that child dreamed about. With a gentle kiss on her head, he left her and went to bed himself.

Jaune didn't think he'd ever truly get over Pyrrha, but at the same time he didn't want to. Pyrrha once told him that everything that happened to a person only helped to further define them in a greater person; even their most tragic moments improved them.

So there he was: Jaune Arc. Once a boyfriend, once a husband, now a widower. But most importantly, he was a father, and a friend to many people.

_"I don't have to say goodbye"_


	3. Can I Be Him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've made the tiniest alteration to the words of this song to better suit the little story I'm trying to tell. It's literally one word but I figured I may as well give a little disclaimer.

_ Can I Be Him? – James Arthur _

_“You walked into the room and now my heart’s been stolen. You took back in time to when I was unbroken”_

While Weiss couldn’t deny that Jaune’s repeated attempts to woo her were frustrating, in that she’d always have to tell him no again and again, she also couldn’t deny that they provided some entertainment.

Jaune wasn’t a musical prodigy, like many of Beacon's students, but he could sing and he was a maestro with a pen and paper. Well, that was stretching it slightly (his songs veered more often than not towards sappy romance) but he had talent. Every week or so he would show up with a guitar (the latest thing Pyrrha’s had him practicing) and a new song, determined to win the heart of the infamous “Ice Queen”.

It wasn’t working.

_“I heard there was someone but I know he don’t deserve you. If you were mine I’d never let anyone hurt you”_

Ah, now he was taking a shot at Neptune, Weiss’s boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend now. Weiss hadn’t minded his flirtatious personality but she couldn’t say that she liked it when he flirted with anything else with a skirt. She held him no ill will, but as far she was concerned, they were no longer a couple. Jaune hadn’t obviously gotten the memo.

_“I swear that every word you sand, you wrote them for me”_

Jaune must have started the chorus, he was singing and playing just that little bit louder now. Someone must have told him that was how it was done.

If anything, I suppose it gets the message across, Weiss thought to herself.

_“Like it was a private show, but I know that you never saw me”_

It was at times like these though that Weiss would watch and actually appreciate Jaune’s work. While she may have not been fond of the reasons behind his song-writing, she couldn’t help but acknowledge that he was making some progress. Not in serenading her but rather making progress in his talents, his own skills.

_“When the lights come on, and I’m on my own will you be there to sing it again?”_

Weiss’s heart couldn’t help but stir at the performance. Jaune sounded like he was singing with genuine longing. As if it pained him to know that she would never return his feelings. As if he genuinely feared he would go unloved by the one he admired.

_“Can I be the one you talk about in all your stories? Can I be him?”_

His song over, Jaune looked to Weiss expectantly, his face all too hopeful. Weiss could only shake her head with a rueful smile. The boy’s shoulders would deflate, disappointment and shame on his face, and Weiss would once again have to try and make him feel better.

“I liked the song” she said.

“You did?”

“Yes. You’re clearly improving”

The smile had returned “Thanks, I guess”

“The chorus was particularly good. It definitely got your emotions across"

“Oh” Jaune nervously chuckled “Then I guess you shouldn’t really be praising me then”

“What do you mean?”

Jaune scratched the back of his neck “Well, you see, I wasn’t the only one who worked on this song. Not really. I managed to put some chords together and write a few verses, but Pyrrha was really the one who wrote the chorus”

“Pyrrha wrote that...for you?” Weiss repeated, her gut twisting ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I told her I was struggling with writing a love song so she gave me these words she had scribbled down. She said they were for me so I figured, hey, may as well use them. I had to change the last line a little of course, but it think it went pretty well with the rest of the song”

Weiss felt bad. Not that she had really done anything wrong, but bad in that Jaune’s infatuation for her made him completely blind to the feelings of others, even the feelings of his best and closest friend.

Weiss’s heart went out to Pyrrha, and the love struck idiot she had decided to fall for.

 _I swear that every word you sang, you wrote them for me_  
_Like it was a private show but I know that you never saw me_  
_When the lights come on and I’m on my own will you be there to sing it again?_  
_Could I be the one you talk about in all your stories?_

_Can I be her?_


End file.
